The Hatter Went Mad
by Sunni D. Lockhart
Summary: Sanity is a blessing recieved by few. The Pencey Institue for the Mentally Insane has become the secret holding cell for an entity beyond comprehension. Dr. Jeannette Marling has come to find reason in a mad house.
1. Chapter 1

The Hatter Went Mad

_There are people in the world with a few loose screws_

_Some of them abusers, and the others the abused_

_And there are those who sit on their pedestals high_

_With a question as to why people's minds go awry_

_There's a rare few who are guiltless in their suff'ring_

_Drowning in the madness while the rest are busy bustling_

_As a hatter once said, 'You can't take less than nothing.'_

My name is Jeanette Marling. I'm a recent graduate of Pencey University with a degree in psychiatry. I'm pleased to say that I graduated at the top of my class, and received a prestigious job offer from The Pencey Institute for the Mentally Insane. My interest in the insane is rooted not in my own macabre obsession with the dark and the occult, but in my obsession with the complexity of the human mind. I want to find out why sometimes things happen to go…awry.

My first day entering, I was permitted to peruse the rooms of the patients. Stark, clean and small were they. Hardly a surprise, for the Institute was not considered an asylum. Patients were held and housed until they were either cured, or their disability was sufficiently identified and were able to be placed in homes or societies able to attend to their needs.

I was pleased upon my inspection that this was indeed the finest rehabilitation clinic in the country. It's staff second to none. Then there were of course the patients. I was given my first assignment about two days after my initial introduction.

Yugi Mouto was his name. Fifteen years of age, both parents deceased, only living relative is his grandfather, Sougoroku Mouto. He suffered from acute scoliosis, partially responsible for his stunted growth. There was a joke around the institute that it was because he didn't eat his green veggies. His institutionalization was due to his mild paranoia, thought to have been brought on by excessive bullying from his classmates.

The first time I met with him, he asked me if I knew anything about Ancient Egypt. "This Puzzle my grandpa gave me," he said, showing me a golden box decorated with hieroglyphs, "It's from the tomb of a Pharaoh! Pretty neat, huh?"

Yugi was a sweet boy. I could see why a boy of his stature and mannerisms would be easily victimized. He was on the shy side, and a little bit of a nerd by children's standards, but he seemed genuine and friendly once given time to open up. I was pleased by his willingness to cooperate with me and talk. You'd be amazed at the number of patients that can't stand the thought of talking to their doctor.

I asked him to talk about his social life. "Well…It's not too great really," I noticed that he had taken up the puzzle box and started fiddling with the pieces inside. "Anzu is nice to me, though."

I asked who Anzu was. "Oh, just a girl in my class. She talks to me sometimes and keeps Jounochi away when he's being mean." Jounochi Katsuya had recently been admitted to the institution. Nothing serious, he was only having a short psychoanalysis being done after it was discovered that his father had been abusive to him since childhood in order to eradicate any potential mental trauma.

He began talking about some of the children at school who bullied him, and their methods of bullying. He relayed to me a certain incident of when he had been given a false note saying that girl wanted to go out with him. When he went to meet the supposed potential date, he waited for two hours after the set time before three older boys arrived who had been waiting to pummel him, and of course publish copies of the letter as well as photos of Yugi waiting to meet the sender. Poor boy.

He mentioned that his Grandfather owned a game shop, and that he himself adored playing games. "My favorite is Duel Monsters. Do you know how to play?" I had seen the foil packets of the cards on the counters of 7elevens, but the game was a tad after my time to be playing it. Yugi even retrieved his deck from the drawer of his nightstand to show me. He had quite an impressive collection, I would admit, and he took great pride in them. I asked him if he often played with other people, Anzu perhaps. Yugi shook his head, "No, not really, Anzu doesn't play very well and doesn't like it. I used to play with…" he suddenly grew very quiet, and I could see him withdrawing once again.

I prompted him, asking who it was he had played with. "…Ryou used to play with me." Why didn't Ryou play with him anymore? "Ryou went away. He's gone now…" he leaned forward towards me, "I think maybe someone took him away. Ryou was wonderful; he and I were good friends."

He went on for quite some time about Ryou, and how special and caring and sweet he was. I wondered why Yugi thinks someone took him away. "I think Ryou was sick. He went unconscious a lot, and sometimes, bad things happened to people who were around him too much." What kind of things? "Comas, most of the time. No one knows why. But, Ryou always got really upset whenever something happened, and acted like it was his fault. He was really careful around people, and distanced himself, sometimes even from me. Anyway, he's gone now. No one knows where."

This seemed very odd to me. Not just that no one knew where a teenage boy had so spontaneously disappeared to, as Yugi had lead me to believe, but these incidents involving comas. I wanted to ask more questions, but the nurse had in-opportunely arrived with his medication. Yugi cheerfully bid me good evening, and said he would see me tomorrow.

My Supervisor called me to his office before I was allowed to check out for the night. Silas Kratz is his name. Brilliant man, genius in fact; a Graduate of Ivyward University at the age of 20, and running the Institute for the past five years. I entered his office with a bit of timidity, acknowledging his prestige. "Dr. Marling," he greeted warmly, "Good of you to come, do be seated."

Dr. Kratz turned out to be one of the most attractive men I had ever met. He had dark brown hair slicked back in the appropriate business fashion with loose strands that framed his square-jawed face. High cheekbones, light blue eyes, a strong nose and full lips further complimented the regality of his face. Thin wire frame glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. "I wanted to know how your first day faired. How did you like Yugi?"

I smiled and answered that I liked him very much. I assured him that any progress made towards his recovery would be reported accordingly. He chuckled, "I'm not too concerned. Yugi is a perfectly stable young man who had a run of bad luck that temporarily altered his psyche. I expect he should be released in about a month." He had a British accent which seeped into his speech like melted sugar. I felt extremely unprofessional getting turned on by my BOSS of all people.

He thanked me once again for taking up a position for them, and was preparing to leave, when I asked him a question. I asked if he himself had ever had a session with Yugi. He answered yes, that he had had several. I wondered if he had ever mentioned a teenage boy named Ryou to him.

This question seemed to faze the doctor. His perpetual smile had faltered and his eyes had darkened for the briefest second before he quickly recovered, "No, I'm afraid not," he answered. Was there a boy by that name that he knew of? A local boy? "No. I have never heard that name before. If you'll excuse me doctor, it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Perhaps my interest in the boy was insignificant. However, if Yugi had believed this boy to be real, when in truth he was not, this could be a significant lead in his case. It was surprising that someone who had clearly meant a great deal to him had not been mentioned to Dr. Kratz.

After the rooms had been locked, the patients in bed and the security guards in place I took my leave of the place. Call me juvenile, but I still find something eerily frightening about a Mental Institution at night. Walking to my car, I saw a woman standing several meters away from the main entrance, like she was debating whether or not to go inside. I called to her, informing her that visiting hours were over and she would have to come back tomorrow. She turned to me, startled by my presence. A long white veil covered her head and most of her face. "Right, I apologize," she said politely with a Middle Eastern accent. The woman hurried away.

**A/N:** Yeah, I'm sorry I'm trying so hard to put off writing NMD, but you know how you get an idea and if you don't write it down immediately you forget? Yes well, I have frequent problems with that. Rest assured, NMD is coming along. I have the next chapter all written out in my Philosophy notebook, and merely have to transfer it to my computer. Hehe. Huh? No, I don't see a neglectful student…Anyway, new idea, thinking of actually making this an actual story, not a fanfic, once I remove all the Yu-Gi-Oh characters and plot references of course. It does have its own structure after all. Lemme know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I live alone. Yes, that is I live alone by choice. My parents are both in excellent health and living comfortably Costa del Sol, my place of birth. People might wonder why I left the warm and sunny island to go to school in mild tempered, grey Langton. I wanted to go away. Simple as that. What's the sense in staying in the same place your whole life?

I guess it's misleading to say I live completely alone. I have visitors quite often; friends of mine from school drop in now and again. My roommate is not of the human variety. His name is Byron, after my favorite poet. He's a Netherland dwarf rabbit. He's full albino, little pink eyes and all. I've only had him about a year, but he's a better listener than most people are.

My alarm clock awakened me with Symphony number 3 in E-flat major, Eroica. Beethoven is always excellent to wake up to, I find. Byron was already thumping his foot beside my bed, indicating he was hungry. The times my mother comes to visit, she complains about how I let him hop around the house instead of keeping him in a cage. Byron is a very sensible bunny, however, and never leaves "surprises" on the carpet for me.

I stopped by the 7Eleven to get a cup of coffee before work this morning, and ended up walking out not only with my French Vanilla latte, but with four foil packets of Duel Monster's cards. Doing activities with the patient that are enjoyed are a good way of forming a better bond. Besides, I liked Yugi. There was no reason not to put in good effort to be his friend.

I arrived precisely on time. Not a minute late, not a minute early. This was a great accomplishment for me, considering anything before eight is ungodly early. Checking in, I was given a new patient. Malik Ishtar. I barely skimmed his file, deciding to go over it later after I'd seen Yugi. It's almost a little silly how much I really did like him! It might just be that he's my first patient and I want to do a good job, but I knew myself better.

Yugi had just finished breakfast when I entered his room. A sliver of milk dribbled down his chin when he looked up from his bowl at me. He waved and grinned, revealing a few colored flakes of Fruity Pebbles still stuck to his teeth.

"Why don't you eat in the cafeteria with everyone else?" I asked, sitting down in my usual chair.

He shuddered, "It's scary in there. Besides, I can watch SpongeBob in the meantime!" I noticed the television flickering in the top corner of the wall.

Setting his bowl back on his tray he retrieved the puzzle box he had shown me yesterday. Several more pieces were now in place. "I finished a little bit more of it! I think it's going to be a pyramid when it's all done." He held it out to me. History had always been a personal niche for me, so I did find the puzzle interesting. Despite the fact that it must be thousands of years old, the gold was not worn or tarnished. Strange.

We chatted for about 20 minutes about idle things: his likes, dislikes, fears, ambitions. I noted that when discussing things he was uncomfortable about, he would fiddle with the puzzle box. I wasn't sure what conclusion to draw from that. Was it his attachment to games? To his grandfather? Why was the puzzle his security blanket?

Sensing the conversation winding down, I withdrew the cards I had purchased. In an instant his face lit up with excitement. "Wow, great! Open them!" He did the honors and flipped through them, muttering things like, 'Mmmhmm, ok, not bad, ooh! Good one!' He gave them to me, shuffled his deck, and started trying to teach me to play. I'd never seen a more complicated card game in my life! With poker and hearts it was a matter of luck. Duel Monsters was a game of strategy, skill, strength and calculation.

After getting the basic idea, Yugi offered to give me a practice-duel. Needless to say, I lost. Yugi had fun though, and that was my ultimate goal.

On a more serious note, I breached a subject that had been on my mind since the previous day. "Yugi, did you ever talk with Dr. Kratz before?"

"Is he the guy with dark hair and glasses?" I nodded. "Yup, he seemed nice. But, he was kind of boring to talk to. What about him?"

"Well, did you ever mention Ryou to him? The friend you told me about yesterday?"

Yugi looked down and swung his feet back and forth from the edge of the bed. "Did you tell him that I mentioned him?"

The way he said it made me feel like I had done something wrong. "I did. He seemed really important to you, and I wanted to find out if anyone knows what might have happened to him."

Now he looked fully away from me. "I'm not supposed to talk about Ryou. He's going to be mad at me. I only told you because I thought you wouldn't tell."

I was confused, but that took a backseat to my guilt. "Oh Yugi, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I'll tell Dr. Kratz not to be mad, don't worry."

He brightened a little at that, but didn't smile. Trying to work out just a little more, I gently nudged, "Why can't you talk about him?"

"He said that if I talk about him, that I'll only think about him more. And that if I think about him, I'll feel worse and worse about him being gone." He tucked his knees into his chest. "But I don't really want to forget Ryou. He was my only friend! Even if he is gone…I'm happy that I knew him at all, you know? I don't want to lose that…" He stared hard at the ceiling. I realized he was trying not to cry.

I sat next to him on the bed, "Once you've met someone you never _really_ forget them. The mind stores the memory away. It just takes a while for that memory to return. You won't lose Ryou," I held his hand, "And _I'm _your friend, Yugi. It's ok."

He pressed his nose, still trying not to cry. He laughed, "It's weird, but when you say it, I really believe you. Doctors say that all the time, but you really mean it, don't you?"

I nodded.

Our time together ended all too soon. It was off to tutoring for him, and off to paperwork for me. Hooray.

I guess the institute wouldn't be what it is without its proper filing procedures.

After two grueling hours of…_that_, it was time to meet my new patient. I readily scanned his file before meeting him. Malik Ishtar. Seventeen years of age. Moved from Egypt with brother and sister. Both parents deceased (I was beginning to see a pattern there). Undiagnosed! Finally an opportunity for me to prove my brilliance!

He was classified as severe…the cause of his deficiencies were unknown. Apparently the sister, Isis Ishtar, had been very vague when admitting him, only saying that he had suffered head trauma. I couldn't wait!...Is that wrong of me?

I made my grand entrance at the same time the nurse had been giving him his afternoon meds, or, at least trying to give him his meds.

He smacked her hand away, "No! No like you, fat lady!" he blew a raspberry and laughed a strange, barking sort of laugh.

I could tell she was frustrated as she smiled and said calmly, "C'mon honey, just one little pill, that's all."

She pushed it towards him again. He squirmed, and screamed loudly, and was quickly followed by another bought of crazy laughter.

He saw me in the doorway, and rushed over. Not looking me in the eye, he crouched and tightly hugged my waist.

"Oh! Dr. Marling, I'm so sorry. He just changed medications, and he's a little out of control today."

Walking around behind me, he touched my hair, "You have blonde hair," he commented, trying to pull it out of the bun I had it in, "It's nice," he said curtly.

I suppressed an 'aww', "Thank you, Malik."

He hugged me around my middle once again, "And you're _skinny!_ You're _hot_, missy!" He laughed.

"Malik, please take your meds," the nurse sighed.

He shook his head, "No No No No! Let her give them to me! She's pretty, you're too ugly!"

She looked at me pleadingly. I took the small pill and the glass of water, offering them to the tan boy.

He accepted, swallowing it quickly. The nurse left with a bit of a forceful step in her walk.

Malik smiled at me; a large, stretched, forced smile with his teeth clenched together in a terrible vice-like way. He hopped onto his bed and crossed his legs, "Sit there," he mumbled, pointing to the chair across from him while nibbling on a fingernail.

For a case like this, I needed a pad of paper. Holding it in my lap, my pen at the ready, I asked, "What's up, Malik?"

He growled deep in his throat and laughed. He never looked directly at me, only at areas surrounding me and sometimes items on my body. He fidgeted; always rocking back and forth or tucking his arms in different positions. All of these things I took note of.

"Do you like it here?"

He suddenly grasped both sides of his head and shook it vigorously, "My brain's going in circles!" Cackling, he fell backwards and rolled around on his back.

"Malik, listen please," I asked patiently, making sure my voice was multi-tonal. He complied. "Do you remember where you lived before you were here?"

He scratched the top of his head, "Someplace hot. It was hot ALL the time. It's cold here. Brrrr!" he rubbed his arms.

"Do you have a sister named Isis, Malik?"

He snapped up, raising his voice, "NO! She's a _bad_ sister! Bad! I don't want her to see me like this!" He squeezed himself into a tiny ball with his knees pressed to his chest.

"Why don't you want her to see you?"

"'Cause I'm **crazy**!" He stuck out his tongue and laughed loudly.

"Why do you think you're crazy, Malik?"

"Because my brains all messed up!" He walked over to me and poked my head, "Can I have yours?"

How do you not laugh at something like that? A giggle bubbled behind my closed lips.

Malik was quite the talker, though not quite the conversationalist. He tended to repeat things, speak incoherently, and blurt out random laughter or spitting noises. I had no idea where to begin. Was his condition present at birth? Was it acquired through head injury? Why was he unwilling to speak to his sister?

I reviewed my notes: Places emphasis on physical appearance won't focus directly on speaker, Fragmented speech, frequent random outbursts, little to no control of physical actions.

I suppose my first lead would be the sister, Isis Ishtar.

My last order of business was Dr. Kratz. I was astounded when Yugi told me that not only had he heard of Ryou before, but that he had given Yugi explicit orders not to speak of him. I entered the modest office.

Silas was busy reviewing a report when I stepped in. "Dr. Marling, please sit down." He said smoothly. Curse that blessed accent…what was it with women and accents, anyhow? I flopped into one of the two chairs positioned in front of his desk.

He set the paper work aside, "Mr. Thompson said you had a question for me?"

I cleared my throat, "Yes sir, it's about Yugi. He informed me today that he had been given specific instruction by you, not to speak about his friend, Ryou. I find this strange, especially because you assured me yesterday that this 'Ryou' person had never been mentioned to you."

He chuckled, "I'm surprised, Doctor. As a child psychologist you can't recognize when a child is clearly out of sorts with reality? I gave no such instruction to him."

I found this very hard to believe. "But he showed no signs of insincerity, sir! I'm sure that-"

"He's your first patient, and you want to believe him, I understand. But the fact of the matter is this person does not exist. You may check the city records if you wish, Doctor, but there is no record of any Ryou Bakura anywhere."

I paused. "I never mentioned his last name was Bakura, sir."

Silas froze, paled, and sighed heavily. He eased himself to sit back in his office chair, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Dr. Marling, I must advise you to put it out of your head. This situation is not as simple as you may think." He crossed over and sat next to me, staring directly into my eyes, "Please, I'm asking you to let it go."

Trying not to allow myself to be dazzled by this gorgeous, brilliant man, I stared rigidly back at him, "If I didn't know any better, sir, I would think that this boy is perhaps somewhere in this facility."

He drew away, and sighed once again. "I suppose you aren't going to drop it. Very well, but I warn you, if you do find anything, you will not like what you find." He left without another word.

So my fourth day at the institute passed, with still no inkling as to who Ryou Bakura was.

And again, on the way to my car, I passed the same Middle Eastern woman, gazing forlornly at the hospital doors; unwilling to enter, unwilling to leave.

**A/N: **Ok, I'm doing notes differently this time, but before we get to that, few acknowledgments:

The Necro Merchant's Debt is in progress. Atem, the philosophical character, requires a tremendous amount of philosophy references and religious references, which I must carefully select. Therefore, the next chapter will be delayed. I'm sorry.

Characters: Jeanette is based loosely on me. Loosely. I only realized this near the second paragraph of this chapter. If you like her, tell me. I'll take that as a personal compliment.

Malik is based on my sister. She is mentally deficient, and is to this day undiagnosed. Having grown up in an environment where I was forced to learn to speak to her and her peers, I know a great deal about special children. So, yes, I really know what I'm talking about when I write this.

Lastly, I want to share with all my faithful readers my playlist for this book, so they might enjoy the story better. Music is a huge influence on my writing, so I may as well accredit it.

Playlist:

Requiem for a Dream- Clint Marshal

Path-Apocalyptica

Bang-Armchair Cynics

Que Je t'aime-Johnny Halliday

Lose Control-Evanescence

The Departure (Gattaca) –Michael Nyman

River Flows in You- Yiruma

Kiss the Rain- Yiruma

Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major (Eroica)-Ludwig van Beethoven

Moonlight Sonata-Ludwig van Beethoven

Dark Waltz- Hayley Westenra

If there are enough requests, I'll post a video with the respectful songs. Once again, all feedback is greatly appreciated.


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